May - june 2006



In the United States, the number of acts of violence has remained stable during 2002 and 2003, although that number is significantly lower than was recorded at the beginning of the 1990’s.  According to the Washington Post, some experts attribute this current low rate of criminality to three factors:  the installation of metal detectors and surveillance cameras in buildings, the increased presence of security personnel and the implementation of anti-bullying programmes in schools. 

In developed countries, the idea that violence is a real threat in schools is securely fixed in people’s minds, as is shown in a number of “victimization” studies.  This observation is not duplicated in Southern countries; contrary to the received wisdom that violence is a “normal” phenomenon in poor countries.  A recent study carried out by E. Debarbieux has recently demonstrated the opposite.  The perception of violence amongst pupils in the South is markedly lower than amongst their peers in the North, at least in Brazil, Burkina Faso and Djibouti.  In these countries, the schools with the best academic results are those where some calm reigns, where corporal punishment is not applied and where there is a strong sense belonging to a community. 

The panoply of methods used in schools in the North to combat violence do not, in and of themselves, assure the development of an atmosphere of peace within institutions.  Surveillance and repression have their limits and also foster resentment, which is not a positive attitude amongst students.  Wouldn’t it be in order to try to promote further the crucial social bonds that must exist in schools just as in the neighborhoods around them? 

References :

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). “Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005”

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006001

The Washington Post. “1 in 20 Students a Crime Victim” 21 November 2005.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/20/AR2005112001053.html

Debarbieux, Éric. (2006). « La violence à l’école : quelques orientations pur un débat scientifique mondial ». International Journal on Violence and Schools, N° 1, May, 18-28.

 

What are victimization studies?

More than a study of “delinquency”, which measures the performance and actions of institutions, the approach of victimization studies permits transgressions and infractions to be understood from the perspective of the victim, who is seen as privileged source of information, instead of focusing on research on the perpetrators of the violence.  These studies illustrate the gap between institutional knowledge of the phenomenon and the reality of the actual aggression.  This methodology is becoming much more common in Europe and the world, employing researchers in large studies, and forming significant databases that will and do allow, in some places, to better measure the significance and evolution of the phenomenon.”

See: « Des statistiques officielles aux enquêtes de victimation », by Eric Debarbieux

http://www.obsviolence.com/french/recherches/index.html

( French only)

     

Against bullying in schools

An international conference on tackling the problem of bullying in schools will be held in England on November 20 and 21, 2006.

http://www.bully.org/2006adv.html

  • Violence in schools

The website of the 3rd International conference on violence in schools which was held in Bordeaux, France, in January 2006. 

http://www.ijvs.org/1-6053-Article.php?id=6

  • Human rights:  a reality

The international organization of francophones (OIF) is bringing together young francophones of 18 to 30 years old for a competition, whose winners will be able to participate in the second World Forum on Human Rights, “Making Human Rights a reality for all”, which will take place in Nantes (France) from July 10 to 13, 2006. 

The competition: http://jeunesse.francophonie.org/

The Forum: http://www.forum-droitsdelhomme.org/forum/forum-mondial-droit-homme-2006.php
( French only)

  • Cultivation of Peace

The Union of independent editors for a different globalisation is offering a peace encyclopedia.  Reflections and analyses are offered on peace education, and the culture war in the school environment. 

http://www.encyclopaixdie.org/encyclo-themes.php?id=26
(French only)

  • An observatory on violence

The  “Ordinary Educational Violence Observatory” is both an association and a website.  Its objective is to widely inform public opinion and political leaders about the use of ordinary educational violence, that is, the different forms of violence used daily by families and schools to educate children. 

http://www.observatoire-international-de-la-violence-educative.org/index.php?lng=en

  • The right to education

This is the website of Pollen, an association which supports education in developing countries.  A charitable foundation under Belgian law, the international organisation is independent and works in favour of development by means of the law and access to education.  The association advocates educational quality as a defence against illiteracy, conflict and under-development. 

http://www.polleneducation.org/rubrique1.html
(French only)

  • Non-violent alternatives

The journal, “Non-violent Alternatives”, founded in 1973, deals with a particular theme every four months, in which the mechanisms of violence and the cultural, psychological and political dimensions of non-violence are analysed in depth.  The journal works with human rights activists, university students and researchers from a variety of disciplines.   

http://www.irnc.org/ANV/index.htm
(French only)

  • Human rights thesaurus

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in collaboration with HURIDOCS (Human Rights Information and Documentation System), has developed a thesaurus including economic, social and cultural rights.  The right to education is well documented. 

http://shr.aaas.org/thesaurus/

  • Electronic resources on human rights

A multilingual centre of electronic resources containing more than 2,000 study programmes, educational and training manuals, electronic forums, databases and Internet links.  

http://www.hrea.org

  • Human Rights school of New York

A school containing middle and upper school levels, which integrates human rights in its programme of studies. 

Info : ftibbitts@hrea.org

  • Human rights and the cinema

The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation will hold its second summer school on the cinema and human rights in Venice, Italy, from August 24 to September 15, 2006.

http://www.cinemahumanrights.org/index.php?option=com_
frontpage&Itemid=1